About minute silences at work

[onesupplied]

We had a one minute silence today to recognise the Grenfell tragedy.

We all received an email well in advance about this. Our office manager sets off an alarm at 11am and when the silence is over. We've (sadly) done this a couple of times now in the past month.

There still remain a few colleagues who seem to take no notice. Although not talking they're typing, clicking, scrolling, shuffling papers.

AIBU to think that this is bloody disrespectful and that everyone can afford to take one minute out of their day?

whiskers a minutes silence is code for 'stop what you're doing for 60 seconds and show you've got one minute of your life to think about those whose lives are lost and those left behind affected by it'. It doesn't mean 'just carry on working in quiet'

I completely agree with the minutes silence at a prescribed time, something that offers unity and in a time of grief/sadness...being united really does help, it may lead to conversation about the tragedy and those who would not usually speak, do speak. It is about paying respect, as a business, a collective, you are acknowledging that a sad situation has occurred, people do grieve in different ways and as pp have said...some grieve at home, find it uncomfortable at work, have important life saving work to do.

The 'contrived' situation of synchronised grieving at the appointed hour does not help everyone! Let the grieving commence, now!, not a minute before. Some are religious and may choose to pray in other ways.

If it works for you OP, then ( with hoping you don't have to anytime soon), observe the silence. Ignore what the others are doing, it is a time of reflection for you, to think about the victims and the tragedy in your own way. You are not being unreasonable but sadly there is nothing that can be done, it is not compulsory and the non observers do not think they are doing anything wrong!

I think it loses its meaning if it becomes compulsory.
This ^^. And you have no idea if they've spent a lot more time than a minute thinking about it somewhere else, gone to church (or other religiously-inspired location), said a prayer at home, made a donation, provided practical support..... It's not even a countrywide minute's silence, it's just your office at that particular moment.
You're talking about being disrespectful but you're not bothering to respect their feelings and their rights to do things in their own individual way.

I work in an organisation that was the subject of one of this year's attacks. The next day we were back to work as normal, but a minute's silence was observed, which I felt was a mark of respect for the loss of a person employed within the same organisation as us.

Observing silences for other events for other reasons at work doesn't sit well with me. Of course I am respectful and understand that other people around me may feel differently, so I would never make noise or do anything involving significant activity. But neither would I appreciate somebody giving me evils or a lecture afterwards because I happened to move a piece of paper.

Respect can be given in other ways than being silent for a minute.

The only minute's silence I'm interested in is the Remembrance Day one. It's the only one that has any meaning. I wonder whether the reason we're so obsessed with these silences is because hardly anyone goes to church/synagogue any more. Surely that's the relevant place for commemoration. (I didn't say temple/mosque because attendance is much higher.)

The Government encourage the multiple silences as they keep us scared
When we should be getting angry.

The UK government has taken away all data privacy rights of UK citizens.
We have more legal snooping than anywhere else in the world
But TM is in number 10 because we are "under threat "
And collective compulsory mourning reminds us that we are

Stop being silent.
Speak up for your rights.

I had radio 2 on at 11am yesterday and they observed the silence. However, I missed the announcement that that's what they were doing, so when the radio suddenly went silent I flicked through the channels. Radio 2 were the only station that I checked that were observing the silence. I thought that was interesting, that the silence wasn't observed across the whole of the BBC.

you completely demonstrate the reason that a minutes silence turns into a minute of pretending that you are being silent and paying respect. But actually raging away inside at what other people are doing. And then actually telling them what they should be doing

I agree - virtue signalling at its worst.

I was behind a bloke in Morrisons yesterday while the minutes silence was observed impeccably although he kept piling his shopping on the counter.

Very sad people can't take one fucking minute to stop and pay respects to 70 plus men women and children who burnt to death, mowed down and knifed on bridge or blown to peices after a teenage pop concert.

What could possibly be so important for one minute that you can't stop your busy life.

#Talking Peece, I agree, we didn't observe the silence in schools etc at that time. As I said, originally, the peace was observed on the 11th whichever day that was, then, later (after ww2 I believe) the observance switched to Remembrance Sunday. It's only in very recent years that we've gone back to observance on the actual date of the armistice.

I do agree that the current trend for a silence for various other events creates a hierarchy of importance - who is to say which deaths are more significant than another? As you say, there were no such observances for IRA victims, or other victims of acts of violence.
There are other, more practical ways to show respect if an individual chooses to , rather than the forced respect we are seeing currently.

Meh no not raging away just feel sad for those who lack such basic empathy for other people.

Virtue signalling or paying respect. If you see paying desks to as virtue signalling I feel quite sorry for you but each to their own.

wait by why just those people? People die in awful circumstances all the time - an entire family wiped out in a car crash recently. No minute's silence for them. Why not? It's got nothing to do with being empathetic. You are no more, or less, empathetic than those who don't like this fad.

It's a minefield, isn't it. I support having a minute's silence for Grenfell Tower as 79+ people killed by why looks like government and/or council negligence is something we would all do well to reflect on.

But holding a minute's silence for the victims of terrorist attacks when we don't do the same for other murder victims feels odd to me, especially as having lots of attention on their attacks is what terrorists want.

I wonder how many of those who either survived Grenfell or lost a friend or family member actually care whether a bunch of strangers observe a minute's silence? I wonder how many of them would actually despise you for thinking you have 'paid your respects' if the only thing you have done is stand there with a constipated look on your face and then go online to announce how virtutous you've been.

I also hope no one buys Simon Cowell's ludicrous bandwagon jumping 'charity' single.

Yes of course there are practical ways to show respect like sending money to appeals etc and sure we all do but a minutes silence is just another way of stopping your life and reflecting.

you can do both

^Today 07:41 Greyponcho

whiskers a minutes silence is code for 'stop what you're doing for 60 seconds and show you've got one minute of your life to think about those whose lives are lost and those left behind affected by it'. It doesn't mean 'just carry on working in quiet' hmm^

Like (most people I assume?) I was left sobbing by both Manchester and Grenfell. Every story that came out made me think of the poor victims. In my own time, when relevant and appropriate.

waitforutdear don't you think stopping in the middle of your shopping for 60 s condos is a bit trite? If anything it makes the whole thing seem embarrassingly contrived when actually people are thinking of the victims. They're donating millions of pounds and tons of clothing and offering their homes. I called to offer a spare room myself I know it's not as useful as thinking for a minute but fuck.

I was in a local online group for mums when someone posted that their friend's daughter had been diagnosed with cancer and wouldnneed bone marrow. She was asking for prayers.

I had recently (that week by coincidence) put myself on the list as a bone marrow donor. I said that while I was an atheist and so couldn't pray I hoped her friend was well and said that I'd just recently gone on the list and shared a link saying we should maybe all do the same in her friend's daughter's honour.

Every single person said they'd pray.

The op said "yes please pray, or put yourself on the bone marrow donors list if that's all you can do"
Praying, minutes silences, they make you feel good without doing good.

I don't think it's that big a deal. If your work wants to observe a silence, they should arrange a specific place for those who want to observe it and leave those who don't want to take part out of it. Not everyone agrees that a minute's silence is particularly respectful, or a good way to honour the dead. It doesn't mean that they are unthinking or unfeeling or disrespectful. Maybe they go home and think about it peacefully by themselves instead.

But what it the "paying your respects" for? I didn't know any of the people who died. They didn't do anything heroic. They died an appalling death, a tragedy. Do we stand silently and think about every stranger who dies?

If I told you a family close to where I live suffered a tragedy several years ago when three members were killed in a car crash, would you stand silently and think about them? It made the national news. It would have upset you. Do you feel you should pay your respects to them? I doubt it.

I totally get it if the grenfell tower victims were your friends, neighbours or colleagues. But beyond that, I'm cynical.

I do think the rememberance day one is a bit different, because we owe so much to the people who sacrificed their lives for us, and it is easy to forget that.

Very sad people can't take one fucking minute to stop and pay respects to 70 plus men women and children who burnt to death, mowed down and knifed on bridge or blown to peices after a teenage pop concert

YOU didn't though - you spent your minute judging the other shopper rather than getting on with your own silence!

You spent your minute "repsecting" human life by being judgey towards your fellow human and being compeditive about who is the best griever!

He might have spent a whole lot more than a minute actually doing constructive things for the victims, he might have spent hours crying for them, hell, he might even know some of them and known that if he stopped in a supermarket to think about it he might not be able to control the flood gates.

You don't care more just because you made a public display of caring!

"respecting"

I've spent a week thinking about the people in Grenfell Tower.

I'm not sure why a company-mandated public silence is going to make me more respectful for the dead?

This kind of thing is in the eye of the beholder; I'm buggered if I'll let someone judge me for not sitting in silence for one minute while I'm busy at work prepping for the 4 meetings I'll be chairing this week.

flogging I can't believe you did that!

What on earth has it got to do with you if someone does or doesn't observe a silence?

You can choose to be silent. It's not a law, it's a convention that individuals can follow or not.

I'm perfectly capable of stopping my busy life and reflecting on human tragedy, for one minute or several. Perhaps others have to be told. Nanny state gone mad,